Dickerson Lab

Researchers in Brad Dickerson's Laboratory seek to understand the relationships between brain anatomy, physiology, and behavior in humans across the lifespan and in those with neurodegenerative diseases.

Overview

Major focus areas of our research include: memory abilities and the brain systems that subserve them in normal individuals and how these abilities and brain systems change with aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related disorders (including frontotemporal dementias and posterior cortical atrophy); understanding how aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related disorders alter the normal anatomy and function of the human brain, and determining whether this knowledge can assist in diagnosis and monitoring of these conditions; and the further development of new neuroimaging and behavioral technology for making quantitative measurements of these abilities and brain systems. We are also pursuing studies of language and semantic knowledge in progressive aphasias; and social cognition and affective processing in normal aging and how these are affected by frontotemporal dementias and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, we pursue some investigations related to the development and promotion of capacities to compensate for age- and disease-related changes.